NCI Cancer Bulletin, December 2, 2008 Volume 5 / Number 24 Title of the article: After Menopause, Weight Affects Breast Cancer Rates More than Mammography Use Women who are overweight or obese after menopause face an increased risk of breast cancer, but a large prospective cohort study indicates that the frequency of mammography use and screening accuracy are not the primary explanations for higher rates of breast cancer in these women. The same is true of large, invasive breast cancer tumors and advanced stage disease; risk increases with weight, but higher rates are not explained by the frequency or accuracy of screening mammography before breast cancer was diagnosed. The study appears in the December 3 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Karla Kerlikowske of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and colleagues gathered data on 287,115 postmenopausal women who were registered in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium database. Reflecting a trend in the U.S. population, 58 percent of the women in the study were overweight or obese. The women were not using postmenopausal hormone therapy when they received their mammograms between 1996 and 2005; 4,446 of them were diagnosed with breast cancer within a year of getting a mammogram. Compared to women with a normal body mass index (BMI 18.5-24.9), risk for the first year after a mammogram was about 12 percent higher in overweight women (BMI between 25-29.9), 20 percent higher with a BMI between 30-34.9, and 30 percent higher when their BMI was higher still. Similar but independent patterns were found for high-grade, advanced-stage, estrogen receptor-positive, and large invasive disease. Factoring in the frequency of the women's previous mammogram use did not change these results. Though under-using mammography did not entirely account for the higher rate, the authors cite its value as "the only secondary prevention measure that has been proven to decrease breast cancer mortality" by detecting disease at an earlier, more treatable stage. And though the link found here between higher BMI and advanced stage disease was moderate, it was also conclusive. "Our results suggest that postmenopausal women who are overweight or obese should be encouraged to lose weight and to undergo routine screening mammography, two factors that may decrease the number of women who are diagnosed with advanced disease," the authors wrote. If one wishes to study whether BMI or Frequent Mammography affects Breast Cancer Rates, which of the three variables is(or are) the dependent variable(s) in the study? a) BMI b) frequent mammography c) breast cancer rates d) all 3 variables above If a variable recorded in this study is the actual BMI calculated from a subject, and it is a positive numerical value, then this BMI is what type of variable? a) categorical b) quantitative
NCI Cancer Bulletin, December 2, 2008 Volume 5 / Number 24
Title of the article: After Menopause, Weight Affects Breast Cancer Rates More than Mammography Use
Women who are overweight or obese after menopause face an increased risk of breast cancer, but a large prospective cohort study indicates that the frequency of mammography use and screening accuracy are not the primary explanations for higher rates of breast cancer in these women. The same is true of large, invasive breast cancer tumors and advanced stage disease; risk increases with weight, but higher rates are not explained by the frequency or accuracy of screening mammography before breast cancer was diagnosed. The study appears in the December 3 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Karla Kerlikowske of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and colleagues gathered data on 287,115 postmenopausal women who were registered in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium database. Reflecting a trend in the U.S. population, 58 percent of the women in the study were overweight or obese. The women were not using postmenopausal hormone therapy when they received their mammograms between 1996 and 2005; 4,446 of them were diagnosed with breast cancer within a year of getting a mammogram.
Compared to women with a normal body mass index (BMI 18.5-24.9), risk for the first year after a mammogram was about 12 percent higher in overweight women (BMI between 25-29.9), 20 percent higher with a BMI between 30-34.9, and 30 percent higher when their BMI was higher still. Similar but independent patterns were found for high-grade, advanced-stage, estrogen receptor-positive, and large invasive disease. Factoring in the frequency of the women's previous mammogram use did not change these results.
Though under-using mammography did not entirely account for the higher rate, the authors cite its value as "the only secondary prevention measure that has been proven to decrease breast cancer mortality" by detecting disease at an earlier, more treatable stage. And though the link found here between higher BMI and advanced stage disease was moderate, it was also conclusive. "Our results suggest that postmenopausal women who are overweight or obese should be encouraged to lose weight and to undergo routine screening mammography, two factors that may decrease the number of women who are diagnosed with advanced disease," the authors wrote.
If one wishes to study whether BMI or Frequent Mammography affects Breast Cancer Rates, which of the three variables is(or are) the dependent variable(s) in the study?
a) BMI
b) frequent mammography
c) breast cancer rates
d) all 3 variables above
If a variable recorded in this study is the actual BMI calculated from a subject, and it is a positive numerical value, then this BMI is what type of variable?
a) categorical
b) quantitative
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